Clout: As reward for job well done, PICA muzzles 'best' spokesman
DOES THE board of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority have a case of "best of" envy for its top staffer?
DOES THE board of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority have a case of "best of" envy for its top staffer?
Uri Monson, PICA's executive director, has been barred by the board from giving on-the-record interviews to the media.
Monson, who has the rare gift for translating dense budget material into plain language for reporters, was named the city's "best wonk" by Philadelphia magazine in August.
Did that honor bruise some egos on the board of the state-created agency, which oversees the city budget? We can't know for sure, because the decision to muzzle Monson was not made during one of the public PICA meetings.
PICA Chairman Jim Eisenhower will now do all interviews.
"The board felt it was important to have one person commenting," Eisenhower told PhillyClout. "It shouldn't be taken as any negative view of the board on Uri Monson."
Past PICA executive directors, including current city Finance Director Rob Dubow, had been free to speak with reporters.
We called Monson for his take on the new policy, but of course he couldn't say anything.
Rendell the fact-checker
Gov. Rendell spent some time in the Capitol yesterday talking about who comes next in his job when he finishes his second term in January. Like presidential candidates getting national security briefings, Rendell's staff is gearing up to offer any declared candidate a meeting to talk issues.
"Because we hope the candidates will be well-informed," Rendell explained. "We're also going to tell them that if they make misstatements of facts or conclusions that aren't based on facts, that I will correct them. And that goes for Democrats as well as Republicans."
Take notice, candidates. The door is open but Rendell will slam it on you if he feels the need.
City Hall sense of humor
There were chuckles - and a few scratched heads - on Jan. 1, after Doug Oliver, Mayor Nutter's press secretary, sent out his second annual tongue-in-cheek New Year's Day message.
Oliver's greeting, which arrived by e-mail one hour and 51 minutes into the new year, was a departure from the previous year, when he poked generic fun at the relationship between reporters and the Mayor's Office.
After a tough 2009, Oliver's message was far more specific, making five mentions in 600 words about what he called the "library debacle" - Nutter's failed effort to close 11 library branches during a city budget crisis.
"We're all on the same team here, aren't we?" Oliver wrote to reporters. "You want to write and produce objective stories that are informative and we want to give you what you need . . . as long as we like what you're doing."
Oliver said that he has received plenty of positive responses about the e-mail and that Nutter "seemed to appreciate my attempt at humor."
Court order: Happy New Year
City Councilman Bill Green marked the new year by having Sophie Bryan, an aide and attorney who played a major role in the court fight that stymied Nutter on library closings, e-mail reporters a legal "complaint in mandamus." Reporters who opened the e-mail found this message from Green: "Just kidding, best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy New Year!"
Quotable:
"It's become bitter. It's become intensely partisan. It's become rigidly ideological. It's a mess. Nobody thinks about how we work together and try to benefit the people we represent. Everyone just thinks about how we can get one up on the other side, how we can kick the other side in the teeth."
- Gov. Rendell, griping yesterday to reporters about the state of national politics and why he would not run for another office.
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